Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Tze Yin Khor, Sri Aman – The History & The Live Crab Feng Shui

Tze Yin Khor is located in Sri Aman, the capital of 2nd Division of Sarawak; it is about 200 km by road from Kuching. There is only one traditional Chinese temple in this small town.

Batang Lupar next to Tze Yin Khor

The temple is located at the river bank of Batang Lupar, famous for the Tidal Wave called Benak locally. This is one of the few temples in Sarawak which is more than a century. The present glamorous architecture was completed in 1993.

Around the year 1849 when James Brooke established its forces in the Skrang region near Sri Aman, the Chinese, particularly the Teoh Chew pioneers, started to do business in the area. As the Brooke Administration reinforced its presence in Batang Lupar with a fort, more Chinese especially Teoh Chew settled down in Sri Aman or around the Batang Lupar area.

Before the turn of 20th Century, a small temple was thus built to cater for the growing Chinese population; this was the earlier Tze Yin Khor, with Tze Pei Goddess as the host deity.

The present location was relocated in 1899. It is believed by most adherents that the present location is seated on a good Feng Shui, a Live Crab Feng Shui. Many believe that because of the Live Crab Feng Shui & the blessings from Tze Pei Goddess, Tze Yin Khor had escaped many major disasters in Sri Aman.

In 1928, a major fire broke out in Sri Aman, devastated about 60 wooden shophouses. Tze Yin Khor was next to these shophouses; most parts of the temple, including the main chamber, was unharmed. In 1961, a cyclonic storm swept through Sri Aman, the half an hour windstorm demolished most of the buildings in Sri Aman including Tze Yin Khor; however, Tze Pei Goddess and the two Protectors remained seated in the main chamber unmoved. Even during the Japanese Occupation in the 1940s, Sri Aman faced few tragedies.

And because it was seated on a Live Crab Feng Shui, before the 1993 major renovation, major parts of the temple was painted green, instead of using red traditionally for most Chinese temples, to avoid ‘cooking’ the Live Crab. With the major renovation in 1993, the practice is still maintained; all roofing of Tze Yin Khor is still kept green until now.